Connecticut Mineral Collecting

If any one would like to exchange information about old and historic loacations, I have a lot of information and would like to compare notes. Am also looking for people in western Connecticut who are interested in finding/ researching old localities that do not have specific information listed.
I am concerned with the recent closure of several sites and will use discretion about specifics.

Hi Im Dan, and i am also from western connecticut. many of the old localities are going under so it would seem. I would be happy to share what data ive collected, which isnt too much.you probably have more than me. i always look for info on old localities such as old mines and quarries etc..when i get information i usually doeverything in my power to find the place anbd find whatever is there. i know of some old helidore prospects in east hamden and the middletown portland area(this includes slocum quarry which ive never been to) also there is a kyanite corrundum deposit up in barkhamstead . Dont know any details other than the property is owned by an older man who is supposedly generous about letting ppl dig in his property. if you wanna chat or team up and try to find some of these places sometime, feel free to email me.

Greetings!

As of spring 2003, Slocum Quarry is closed to collecting. Nearby, Swanson is closed execpt with permission. In S. Glastonbury, Hollister Q. is closed to collecting.

Fred

Thanks for the info Fred.
I knew about Swanson and Hollister. Actually Hollister has been closed for some time. The Howe Q.and Simpson Q. are also soon to disapear. There is a housing developement going in. It seems Connecticut is loosing out to developers and irritated property owners! Rick

Hello All;

I grew up and started collecting in Western Connecticut about 50 years ago. I still do a little collecting there, and would be happy to swap information. Does anyone know the current status of the siderite mine dumps at Roxbury Station? Or the kyanite locality at Judd's Bridge?

Don

Greetings!

Last I heard, surface collecting around the Roxbury Iron Mine was ok (in moderation), but no tools, shovels or other excavation equipment are allowed.

Judd's Bridge is still there, although the access road is blocked by a row of boulders and you have to hike in. I didn't have much luck, but then it was my first time there and I didn't really know where to look.

I'd love to find someone who claims ownership of Branchville Quarry (my attempts at the tax records office and sending letters out got no response), and the Roebling Quarry in Upper Merryall.

Fred

In regards to Roxbury Iron Mine, It is a Federal Historic Site. The Historic Society that oversees the site WILL kick people out and WILL threaten to call the police if you collect there. (I'm talking from personal experience) You won't have a problem just picking up a piece or two but any more than that they don't like.(There isn't much left there in the way of crystals anyways since Wards Scientific raided the site years ago and removed severl tons of material)

The Judds Bridge Kyanite locality is on the Steep Rock Nature Preserve property and the reason they blocked the road with boulders is to stop people from collecting there. They say that collectors have explored up the hill from the site and ripped all the moss off the boulders looking for kyanite. If you do some foot work there are other sites in the area around power line right of ways where there is kyanite but none in quartz.

In regards to Branchvill Quarry, It is owned by a company that prohibits collecting. From what I understand there's not much there anymore anyway. The rare minerals are all oxidized and broken down and a lot of the dump material has been hauled away.

The limestone quarry north of Falls Village has good tremolite and diopside(white). Its owned by Red Wing Industries in New York. Clubs CAN get permission to collect but I don't know if they will allow individual collectors in. The Danbury Mineral Society has collected there and will again this summer.
Roxbury is still open for garnets, Redding is still available for garnets.

Thanks for the info!

Whether or not there is "not much there" for many of the old CT pegmatites may be debatable. I have found many unusual specimens, frequently with the aid of a scintillometer, at some heavily worked collection sites. In some cases, the material was cast aside like junk, but was in fact quite rare and unusual (some are still out for analysis). For example, [fedavis.home.att.net] .

If you have the address and contact name for the limestone quarry, I would love to arrange a trip for the New Haven Mineral Club.

Best regards,
Fred

I have alot of material on the old mines and quarry's, and have found most of them in the portland, glastonbury, east hampton, marlbrough, and east haddam. I know exactly where slocum's is and have been there many times (with permission) unfortunately the owner died about a year ago, and I doubt his son will grant permission, ( I had it from the grounds keeper), but it's worth a try. There has been recent activity on the bottom of the hill underneath the old prospect, it is a new dig, and looks to be a major under taking, there are also some new small pockets opened up. I was told there was a jewler from Old saybrook in there with permission digging around before Bob died. ONE MAJOR WORD OF ADVICE!!!! THE QUARRY WAS ABANDONED BECAUSE OF EXCESSIVE OVER HEAD LOOSE ROCK. It has been dug into soooo much that it is dangerous, and was abandoned b/c the owner did not want to blast or remove this overburden.
What I am looking for..... I got interested in this hobby a a kid, my grandparents were highly involved in the heart of connecticut mineral club, they may have been founders or presidents or something like that. They got me into it, and I have all their old information from the old quarry's and mines. They got divorced and sold their mineral collection to the smithsonian and lived rather far away. Well, I have gone and found most of the places they collected, sort of as a challange, and would like to start collecting, but I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for, and they are to old to go out in the field any more. I could show people to some of these localities if they could show and explain what to look for and how to go at collecting.
Mike

I would be happy to show you some of the things to look for. One thing you need to do if you haven't already is get a good mineral book with some good photos. (Preferrably not just museum specimens) and get familiar with what some of the minerals you are interested in look like(a field guide would be best)
This won't make you an expert overnight but it will help you get some idea what to look for. I will bw pretty busy until the end of August but if you want to do some Fall collecting I'm game.

I would be happy to show you some of the things to look for. One thing you need to do if you haven't already is get a good mineral book with some good photos. (Preferrably not just museum specimens) and get familiar with what some of the minerals you are interested in look like(a field guide would be best)
This won't make you an expert overnight but it will help you get some idea what to look for. I will be pretty busy until the end of August but if you want to do some Fall collecting I'm game.

I would be happy to show you some of the things to look for. One thing you need to do if you haven't already is get a good mineral book with some good photos. (Preferrably not just museum specimens) and get familiar with what some of the minerals you are interested in look like(a field guide would be best)
This won't make you an expert overnight but it will help you get some idea what to look for. I will be pretty busy until the end of August but if you want to do some Fall collecting I'm game.

I would be happy to show you some of the things to look for. One thing you need to do if you haven't already is get a good mineral book with some good photos. (Preferrably not just museum specimens) and get familiar with what some of the minerals you are interested in look like(a field guide would be best)
This won't make you an expert overnight but it will help you get some idea what to look for. I will be pretty busy until the end of August but if you want to do some Fall collecting I'm game.

I'd be happy to get together and compare notes on Connecticut mineral localities ad especially on Connecticut mines and quarries, whether for collecting or not. I'm researching the history of mining and quarrying in CT and trying to track down as many old mines and quarries as possible, find them, take their bearings (which I'm sharing with the DEP), and research their history. Feel free to email me.

I'VE GOT A SON IN NEW BRITIAN DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE TO GO FOR PERSONAL COLLECTING WHEN I VISIT HIM THIS SUMMER? IV'E BEEN RIDING WHILE HES AT WORK LOOKIG OVER AREA

The best collecing sites near New Britain are in the Portland-South Glastonbury pegmatites. If you'll email me and send me your mailing address, I'll send you a map of the localities.
As for other sites mentioned on this thread, the Judds Bridge kyanite locality can be reached by parking near the roadblock and walking south to the power line, then up it a short distance and up to the south edge of the right-of-way, where there is an old quarry pit--but you won't find much there, or on the outcrops in the area that have been explored and picked clean.
The ex-Red Wing lime quarry in Canaan was sold a couple years ago and the new owner won't answer inquiries, so I assume the answer is NO. The Slocum quarry in East Hampton is also officially closed, but it is possible to get in by parking by the bridge on Tartia Road not far west of it (unless someone has built there) and walking southeastward through the woods and staying south of a farm field till you find an old dirt road that leads to the quarry. People still seem to get in there. I hear there is also a site at the bottom of the hill just below it, but I haven't been there; you might try walking in from Route 16 opposite the covered bridge.

I'm getting old and forgetful--my email address is
nutmeg_uncle_ed@yahoo.com
Happy to hear from fellow collectors and exchange information.

Thank you for offering to send a map of the Tarsia area, I'm interested
in finding interesting examples,including garnet.

Thank you in advance.

Don Church

I believe you mean the Tartia Road (Slocum Quarry) area. Send me (my e-mail address is in my last previous message) your mailing address and I'll send you a map--same to any other readers who'd like a map of the quarries in Portland/South Glastonbury/East Hampton.

I would say that the best collecting sites in New Britain are in fact right in New Britain. Though the highway cuts are off-limits, the entire region has outcroppings of densely mineralized zones. I've begun exploring the accessible wooded areas in New Britain recently and have returned with the best specimens in my collection-- gemmy crystals that I can't even identify, and azurite and malachite after chalcopyrite chunks the size of my fist! magnificent dt quartz, perfectly clear! Stream beds are a good place to hunt; you'll know when you're near something interesting when you see huge plates of barite xtals strewn about the surface.

Hi Mike,

My name is Mike also and i live in NY. I am wondering if we could exchange some site information on mines and quarries in the CT and MA area. Unfortunately, I am not a mineral collector, but I collect fossils. I am interested in the sedimentary areas ( along I-91) andlooking for new exposures.
If you have an interest in collecting fossils, I could help you with that. I can also help you organize your records ( if you havent done that yet, and make a map of your mine localities which could be laid over other layers, like, for example, geologic maps.
It would be great to hear from you.

Thanks

Mike


Mike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have alot of material on the old mines and
> quarry's, and have found most of them in the
> portland, glastonbury, east hampton, marlbrough,
> and east haddam. I know exactly where slocum's is
> and have been there many times (with permission)
> unfortunately the owner died about a year ago, and
> I doubt his son will grant permission, ( I had it
> from the grounds keeper), but it's worth a try.
> There has been recent activity on the bottom of
> the hill underneath the old prospect, it is a new
> dig, and looks to be a major under taking, there
> are also some new small pockets opened up. I was
> told there was a jewler from Old saybrook in there
> with permission digging around before Bob died.
> ONE MAJOR WORD OF ADVICE!!!! THE QUARRY WAS
> ABANDONED BECAUSE OF EXCESSIVE OVER HEAD LOOSE
> ROCK. It has been dug into soooo much that it is
> dangerous, and was abandoned b/c the owner did not
> want to blast or remove this overburden.
> What I am looking for..... I got interested
> in this hobby a a kid, my grandparents were highly
> involved in the heart of connecticut mineral club,
> they may have been founders or presidents or
> something like that. They got me into it, and I
> have all their old information from the old
> quarry's and mines. They got divorced and sold
> their mineral collection to the smithsonian and
> lived rather far away. Well, I have gone and found
> most of the places they collected, sort of as a
> challange, and would like to start collecting, but
> I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for, and
> they are to old to go out in the field any more. I
> could show people to some of these localities if
> they could show and explain what to look for and
> how to go at collecting.
> Mike

forgot to mention that my email is tell_mike@hotmail.com

Hi Nate

I used to live in Conn near New Britain also. Very interesting geology. a place with a lot of faulting and hydrothermal action. In the 80's there was some contruction ( a drive way now I think) that yielded a 1ft x2ft (approc) chunk of barite vein with a 1/2' chalcopyrite vein in it. (wish i still had it). I also had found botroidal chalcopyrite in a vein covered with quartz xls, malachite and a little azurite druzes.
Unfortunately that part of my collection is gone. Do you have any photos?
I am now living in Quebec Canada at Thetford Mines. If you are intereseted in trading I may have some local stuff here.
Fred

Hi Fred, interesting geology indeed; I've been teaching myself a bit of the local geology and have been exploring the accessible portions of the Hampden Basalt fingers which are wedged between East Berlin formation silty shale and the Portland Arkose. Presently I'm in school and don't have time to even really clean most of the specimens I've collected, but in a couple weeks I should have more time to post photos. I believe, Fred, that my main collecting spot is a bit further southwest along the same finger of basalt as the driveway of which you speak, btw.

I've discovered some exposures and have had the opportunity to study the localized geology of the veins. It appears that there are large barite veins of up to about 3' wide that run nearly vertical and cut the host rock in a transverse section. Off of these larger veins there are smaller perpendicular veins that vary in size and extend great distances from the main veins. Different points along the Hampden Basalt occurrences seem to yield differing ratios of accessory minerals. Of one Hampden Basalt occurrence, the extreme northern outcroppings yield barite and quartz (in nice euhedral, walnut-sized multi-pointed dt crystals), with very minor siderite and limonite. Heading southward, the overall size of the quartz crystals diminished somewhat and there appears an increasing percentage of chalco and copper secondaries, nice plates of siderite micros, 2" veins of limonite, 2" chunks of massive chalco (very few crystal faces on the chalco).

Hi Nate

Do you have any photos? Sound like you have studied the geology, congradulations!

Perhaps one day if I get down to my home state we could collect in CT

Fred